Welcome to the NetBeans E-commerce Tutorial. In this multi-part tutorial, you
learn how to create a simple yet effective e-commerce application that demonstrates
various important features of Java web and EE development. In doing so, you'll
familiarize yourself with the NetBeans IDE and become capable of applying it to
your own development purposes.

Taking the time to master the IDE will ultimately lead you to become more efficient
and versatile as a developer. While you work through the tutorial units, you'll learn
how to make best use of the IDE's facilities and tools. These include:

Development tools: Debugger, Profiler, HTTP Server
Monitor, Local History support, and a graphical Diff Viewer

The tutorial is modular in fashion, with each unit focusing on specific concepts,
technologies, and features of the IDE. You can successfully follow a tutorial unit
on its own using the provided setup instructions and application snapshots (from
Unit 5 onward). However, you'll get the most benefit by working through all units
consecutively, from beginning to end. This will also help to illustrate the
development process.

Unit 3, Setting up the Development Environment
introduces you to the NetBeans IDE. In it, you create a Java web project which
is the basis for the work you undertake in later tutorial units. In Unit 4,
Designing the Data Model, you primarily work with
MySQL WorkBench, a visual
database design tool, to create a data model for the application. Each successive
tutorial unit provides you with a project snapshot that corresponds to
the project's beginning state for that given unit. This enables you to work through
a single tutorial unit outside of the E-commerce Tutorial's larger context. To use
these snapshots, download them to your computer and open them in the IDE using the
Open Project wizard (Ctrl-Shift-O; ⌘-Shift-O on Mac).

The remainder of this unit covers some information relevant to the tutorial, as
well as basic concepts necessary for Java EE development. Make sure you understand
the concepts outlined below before proceeding with development.

About this Tutorial

Who this Tutorial is for

The content of this tutorial caters to four demographics:

Java developers interested in expanding their skill set to include Java
EE technologies

Newcomers to the NetBeans IDE wanting to try out its development
environment

Web developers wanting to see how Java compares to other web-based
technologies

Students wanting to understand the nuts and bolts a simple e-commerce
application, and how its development could apply to a real-world
use-case

If you fall into any of these categories, this tutorial will be helpful to
you. Depending on your background, you may find that certain tutorial units
are more difficult to grasp than others. Understanding how technologies
work is key to leveraging the IDE for your purposes. Therefore, if you are
really interested in learning the technologies involved, you may find that
this tutorial works best as a companion to the
Java
EE Tutorial. For each tutorial unit, make best use of the provided links
to relevant areas in the Java EE Tutorial, as well as to other useful resources.

What this Tutorial Covers

The application that you develop in this tutorial involves numerous concepts,
technologies, and tooling components:

What is an E-commerce Application?

The term e-commerce, as we think of it today, refers to the buying and
selling of goods or services over the Internet. For example, you may think of
Amazon, which provides online
shopping for various product categories, such as books, music, and electronics.
This form of e-commerce is known as electronic retailing, or e-tailing,
and usually involves the transportation of physical items. It is also referred
to as business-to-customer, or B2C. Other well-known forms include:

Consumer-to-consumer (C2C): Transactions taking place
between individuals, usually through a third-party site such as an online
auction. A typical example of C2C commerce is eBay.

Business-to-business (B2B): Trade occurring between
businesses, e.g., between a retailer and wholesaler, or between a wholesaler
and manufacturer.

Business-to-government (B2G): Trade occurring between
businesses and government agencies.

This tutorial focuses on business-to-customer (B2C) e-commerce, and applies the
typical scenario of a small retail store seeking to create a website enabling
customers to shop online. Software that accommodates a B2C scenario generally
consists of two components:

Store Front: The website that is accessed by customers,
enabling them to purchase goods over the Internet. Data from the store catalog
is typically maintained in a database, and pages requiring this data are
generated dynamically.

Administration Console: A password-protected area that is
accessed over a secure connection by store staff for purposes of online management.
This typically involves CRUD (create read update delete) access to the store
catalog, management of discounts, shipping and payment options, and review
of customer orders.

What is Java?

In the computer software industry, the term "Java" refers to the
Java Platform as well as the Java Programming Language.

Duke, the Java mascot

Java as a Programming Language

The Java language was conceptualized by
James Gosling,
who began work on the project in 1991. The language was created with the following
5 design principles[1]
in mind:

Simple, Object-Oriented, and Familiar: Java contains
a small, consistent core of fundamental concepts that can be grasped
quickly. It was originally modeled after the then popular C++ language,
so that programmers could easily migrate to Java. Also, it adheres to
an object-oriented paradigm; systems are comprised of
encapsulated objects that communicate by passing messages to one another.

Robust and Secure: The language includes compile-time
and run-time checking to ensure that errors are identified quickly. It
also contains network and file-access security features so that distributed
applications are not compromised by intrusion or corruption.

Architecture Neutral and Portable: One of Java's primary
advantages is its portability. Applications can be easily
transferred from one platform to another with minimum or no modifications.
The slogan "Write once, run anywhere" accompanied the Java 1.0
release in 1995, and refers to the cross-platform benefits of the language.

High Performance: Applications run quickly and efficiently
due to various low-level features, such as enabling the Java interpreter
to run independently from the run-time environment, and applying an
automatic garbage collector to free unused memory.

Interpreted, Threaded, and Dynamic: With Java, a developer's
source code is compiled into an intermediate, interpreted form known as
bytecode. The bytecode instructional set refers to the machine
language used by the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). With a suitable interpreter,
this language can then be translated into native code for the
platform it is run on. Multithreading capabilities are supported primarily
by means of the Thread class, enabling numerous tasks to occur
simultaneously. The language and run-time system are dynamic in that
applications can adapt to environment changes during execution.

If you'd like to learn more about the Java language, see
the Java Tutorials.

Java as a Platform

The Java Platform signifies a software-based platform that is comprised of two
parts:

The Java Virtual Machine (JVM): The JVM is an engine that
executes instructions generated by the Java compiler. The JVM can be thought
of as an instance of the Java Runtime Environment, or JRE, and is embedded
in various products, such as web browsers, servers, and operating systems.

The Java Application Programming Interface (API):
Prewritten code, organized into packages of similar topics. For instance,
the Applet and AWT packages include classes for creating fonts, menus,
and buttons.

The Java Development Kit, or JDK, refers to the Java SE Edition, while other
kits are referred to as "SDK", a generic term for "software
development kit." For example, the Java
EE SDK.[2]

You can see a visual representation of the Java platform by viewing the
conceptual diagram of component technologies provided in the
JDK Documentation.
As shown below, the diagram is interactive, enabling you click on components
to learn more about individual technologies.

As the diagram indicates, the JDK includes the Java Runtime Environment (JRE).
You require the JRE to run software, and you require the JDK to develop
software. Both can be acquired from
Java SE Downloads.

Java EE

The Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) builds upon the Java SE platform
and provides a set of technologies for developing and running portable, robust,
scalable, reliable and secure server-side applications.

Depending on your needs, you may want to use certain technologies from either
category. For example, this tutorial makes use of
Servlet,
JSP/EL, and
JSTL "web"
technologies, as well as
EJB and
JPA
"enterprise" technologies.

What's the Difference Between...?

There are many abbreviations and acronyms to parse. If you're new to all of this
and find the above explanation somewhat confusing, the following resources can
help explain what the differences are between some of the commonly used terminology.

What is the Java Community Process?

The Java Community Process (JCP) is a
program that manages the development of standard technical specifications for Java
technology. The JCP catalogs Java Specification Requests (JSRs), which are formal
proposals that document the technologies which are to be added to the Java platform.
JSRs are run by an Expert Group, which typically comprises representatives
of companies that are stakeholders in the industry. The JCP enables Java technology
to grow and adapt according to the needs and trends of the community.

The JSRs of technologies used and referred to in this tutorial include the following:

A JSR's final release provides a reference implementation, which is a free
implementation of the technology. In this tutorial, you utilize these implementations
to develop the sample e-commerce application. For example, the GlassFish v3 application
server, which is included in the standard Java download bundle for
NetBeans
6.8, is the reference implementation of the Java EE 6 platform specification
(JSR 316). As a
reference implementation for the Java EE platform, it includes reference implementations
for the technologies included in the platform, such as Servlet, EJB and JPA technologies.

Why use an IDE?

Firstly, the term IDE stands for integrated development environment.
The purpose of an IDE has traditionally been to maximize a developer's productivity
by providing tools and support such as:

a source code editor

a compiler and build automation tools

a window system for viewing projects and project artifacts

integration with other commonly-used services

debugging support

profiling support

Consider what would be necessary if you wanted to create a Java-based web application
manually. After installing the Java
Development Kit (JDK), you would need to set up your development environment by
performing the following steps.[3]

Set your PATH environment variable to point to the JDK installation.

Download and configure a server that implements the technologies you plan to use.

Create a development directory where you plan to create and work on the web application(s).
Furthermore, you are responsible for setting up the application directory structure so
that it can be understood by the server. (For example, see
Java
BluePrints: Strategy for Web Applications for a recommended structure.)

Set your CLASSPATH environment variable to include the development
directory, as well as any required JAR files.

Establish a deployment method, i.e., a way to copy resources from your development
directory to the server's deployment area.

Bookmark or install relevant API documentation.

For educative purposes, it is worthwhile to create and run a Java web project manually
so that you are aware the necessary steps involved. But eventually, you'll want to
consider using tools that reduce or eliminate the need to perform tedious or repetitious
tasks, thereby enabling you to focus on developing code that solves specific business
needs. An IDE streamlines the process outlined above. As demonstrated in Unit 3,
Setting up the Development Environment, you'll
install NetBeans IDE with the GlassFish application server, and be able to set up
a web application project with a conventional directory structure using a simple
3-step wizard. Furthermore, the IDE provides provides built-in API documentation which
you can either call up as you code in the editor, or maintain open in an external
window.

An IDE also typically handles project compilation and deployment in a way that is
transparent to you as a developer. For example, the web project that you create in
NetBeans includes an Ant build script that is used to compile, clean, package and
deploy the project. This means that you can run your project from the IDE, and it
will automatically be compiled and deployed, then open in your default browser.
Taking this a step further, many IDEs support a Deploy on on Save feature. In other
words, whenever you save changes to your project, the deployed version on your
server is automatically updated. You can simply switch to the browser and refresh
the page to view changes.

IDEs also provide templates for various file types, and often enable you to add them
to your project by suggesting common locations and including default configuration
information where necessary.

Aside from the "basic support" described above, IDEs typically provide
interfaces to external tools and services (e.g., application and database servers,
web services, debugging and profiling facilities, and collaboration tools) which
are indispensable to your work if Java development is your profession.

Finally, IDEs usually provide enhanced editor support. The editor is where you likely
spend most of your time working, and IDE editors typically include syntax highlighting,
refactoring capabilites, keyboard shortcuts, code completion, hints and error messages,
all aiming to help you work more efficiently and intelligently.

Why use NetBeans?

The NetBeans IDE is a free, open-source integrated development environment written
entirely in Java. It offers a range of tools for create professional desktop,
enterprise, web, and mobile applications with the Java language, C/C++,
and even scripting languages such as PHP, JavaScript, Groovy, and Ruby.

Works Out of the Box: Simply download, install, and run the
IDE. With its small download size, installation is a breeze. The IDE runs on
many platforms including Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and Solaris. All IDE tools
and features are fully integrated - no need to hunt for plug-ins - and they
work together when you launch the IDE.

Profiling and Debugging Tools: With NetBeans IDE
profiler, you get real time
insight into memory usage and potential performance bottlenecks. Furthermore, you can
instrument specific parts of code to avoid performance degradation during profiling.
The HeapWalker
tool helps you evaluate Java heap contents and find memory leaks.

Customizable Projects: Through the NetBeans IDE build process, which
relies on industry standards such as Apache
Ant, make,
Maven, and
rake - rather than a
proprietary build process - you can easily customize projects and add functionality.
You can build, run, and deploy projects to servers outside of the IDE.

Collaboration Tools: The IDE provides built-in support for version
control systems such as CVS, Subversion, and Mercurial.

Extensive Documentation: There's a wealth of tips and instructions
contained in the IDE's built-in help set. Simply press F1 (fn-F1 on Mac) on a component
in the IDE to invoke the help set. Also, the IDE's official
knowledge base provides hundreds of online tutorials, articles and
screencasts that are
continuously being updated.